Honey

How is honey made?

Honey is plant nectar partially digested in the bee's crop. It contains about 20 percent water and up to 80 percent sugars.

Enjoy your tea!

There is no need to put honey in tea. Hot liquid destroys all the beneficial substances in it. It is better to eat a spoonful of honey with tea as a snack.

Bees have a hard time collecting honey. To produce about 500 g of this sweetness, hive residents have to process more than two million flowers.

During the collection process, they fly a distance three times greater than the circumference of the equator. One bee collects no more than one twelfth of a tablespoon of honey in its entire life.

Fresh honey is usually liquid. It is extracted from the honeycomb using a centrifuge and filtered to remove any remaining pollen and wax clumps.

The color of honey varies from almost white to dark brown, depending on what plants the bees collected it from. Light honey has a milder taste, while dark honey has a richer taste.

What conditions are needed to store honey?

To preserve the structure of the substance and its beneficial properties, it is necessary to maintain stable temperature and humidity. The refrigerator is the most preferred place , especially if it supports a dry storage system.

Storage temperature

Taste, richness, and shelf life depend on proper storage. The optimal temperature for long-term storage is from -10 to +6 degrees.

Temperatures below the permissible level affect the structure of the mass. The honey begins to thicken and gradually hardens, and also acquires a light shade. The beneficial properties are preserved.

Room temperature above +6 degrees has a worse effect on the condition of the tasty delicacy. Honey indoors quickly darkens, begins to separate, acquires a bitter taste and can even cause poisoning.

The main thing is to stick to one temperature regime. The settings on the refrigerator panel are usually suitable for default storage. Changing them frequently will not benefit the sweet treat, or other products either.

Light

Bright light sources pose one of the greatest dangers. Light destroys natural components and enzymes, depriving the substance of its beneficial properties and sugaring the product.

If you keep honey in the refrigerator in a suitable container, it will be protected and retain its value as a medicine and treat.

What should the humidity be for storage?

Air humidity at the storage location should not exceed 75%. A cool, dry place meets this requirement, especially cold rooms.

If a small amount of water collects on the walls of the refrigerator, it is best to wipe them down as needed.

The compartments for vegetables and fruits are suitable for storing honey in the refrigerator. They are usually designed so as not to come into contact with other odor-emitting products and are protected from moisture.

Be sure to read:

How to store champagne: shelf life of opened and unopened sparkling wine

What is honey made of?

The main sugars in honey are glucose, fructose and sucrose. They are quickly absorbed in the digestive tract and allow you to quickly obtain energy.

Honey is quite high in calories - more than 320 kcal per 100 g

. How many calories are there, for example, in sweet pastries or sweetened condensed milk?

This product also contains minerals.

that affect its color: copper, zinc, iron, manganese.

Honey is also a good source of cobalt. 100 g of honey contains up to 25 percent of the daily dose of this metal. Dark honey contains more minerals than light honey.

the enzymes it contains

help with digestion.
It also contains some vitamins
.

Does frozen ginger lose its properties?

Freezing is one of the most popular ways to preserve fruits and vegetables for the winter, and ginger is no exception. How useful the product will be after defrosting and whether it will retain its properties in full is an exciting question.

The most unstable of the vitamins is considered to be ascorbic acid , which is found in excess in ginger. However, at low temperatures, vitamin C is preserved almost completely; it is only important not to re-freeze it. It is better to prepare the product in portions and use it that way.

The ideal way to preserve the entire volume of minerals and vitamins is shock freezing, but this method is usually available on a production scale.

At home, you should follow several important rules:

How to store honey?

Honey keeps well. To do this, it must be placed in a cool place away from direct sunlight in a tightly closed container.

Honey can be stored in the refrigerator and even frozen, but this is not necessary.

Over time, the sugars contained in honey crystallize, causing it to become cloudy and hard. To make the honey liquid again, you need to warm it up a little in a water bath, stirring constantly.

Don't heat the honey too much

: The sugar it contains may caramelize, which will change the taste and color of the honey.

Methods for freezing ginger

Ginger should be frozen fresh for its medicinal properties. However, for consumption as a seasoning, the root can be stored with additives, heat-treated or pickled. It will not retain all its useful substances, but it will not lose its spiciness, pungency and special aroma.

With lemon

Many admirers of traditional medicine know about the healing effect of the lemon plus ginger tandem. From such a mixture, often with the addition of honey, tea is prepared, which has both a preventive and therapeutic effect - against colds and respiratory diseases. To prepare, both products are crushed, the seeds are removed from the lemon and the zest is removed. The pulp is placed in portioned molds and frozen.

Fresh whole ginger

The whole root is stored unpeeled on a shelf in the refrigerator. Thus, it does not lose moisture and, accordingly, minerals and vitamins. It is usually wrapped in waxed paper or parchment, which protects the ginger from foreign odors.

Did you know? Ginger is mentioned in the Qur'an as a seasoning for the wine that will be served to the righteous in Jannah (the Garden of Eden in Islam).

Pickled root

On store shelves, in addition to fresh root, you can also buy pickled root. A snack seasoned with soy sauce that appeals to many fans of Asian cuisine. In addition, the semi-finished product saves time on preparing dishes. If the appetizer is purchased with a reserve, you can save it by dividing it into portions and placing it in a zip-lock bag along with a small amount of marinade.

Read how to properly freeze strawberries, watermelon and pumpkin for the winter.

Grated ginger

The disadvantage of freezing a whole ginger root is that you may not need all of it during cooking. Therefore, it is much more convenient to store the product in portions - cut into pieces or grated.

For the grated mixture, it is convenient to use ice or candy molds.

What to cook with honey?

Honey vs refined sugar

Due to its high content of minerals and enzymes, honey is healthier than refined sugar. However, it also suffers from excess sugar calories. Read about the most common myths and facts about carbohydrates.

Honey easily replaces sugar
in many dishes. It should be borne in mind that honey is sweeter than refined sugar, so it should be taken one third less than the amount of sugar indicated in the recipe. It is also worth considering that honey contains up to 20 percent water.
If you use honey in baking, reduce the oven temperature by about 15 degrees Celsius. This will allow the honey dough to bake better.
About 350 g of liquid honey is placed in a glass.
Honey contains a small amount of acid, so it can cause milk or cream to curdle. To neutralize acids, add a pinch of regular soda to a dish with milk and honey.
Honey is an excellent ingredient for salad dressings. It can be used not only for fruit, but also for regular vegetable salads, replacing sugar.

Steps

1. Find a suitable airtight container for storing honey. A glass jar is the most preferred vessel for this. It is best to avoid metal or plastic (non-food grade) containers as they can cause the honey to oxidize or even cause health problems if alkaline chemicals from the plastic leach into the product.

2. Pour honey into an airtight container.

3. Close the jar lid tightly.

4. Prepare a dry and cool place to store the container with honey. In most cases, a kitchen cabinet or pantry will do the job. You need to make sure that the closet or pantry is dark enough and not exposed to direct sunlight. The jar should be kept in this place until the honey is eaten. Room temperature can help increase the shelf life of honey. Honey that has been stored at extreme temperatures (cold or hot) changes its quality, and this spoils its taste or texture, and the entire product as a whole. For example, cold temperatures can thicken it, while hot temperatures can change its appearance and taste.

5. Freeze honey if you plan to store it for longer than several months. Honey will begin to change in color, composition and taste after months of storage at room temperature. To stop these unnecessary changes, you just need to put the container with it in the freezer, and then defrost it at room temperature before using it without removing the lid. It is important to make sure there is enough space in the container as honey expands when it freezes. It will keep in the freezer for several years. This is an easy way to preserve the natural valuable qualities of honey.

Which variety does not crystallize for a long time?

Therefore, natural honey cannot be absolutely “pure”; it necessarily contains admixtures of other flower crops. It should be noted that the amount of sweet nectar collected from other flowers is minimal, therefore, the name of the variety is determined by the mass flowering of flowers during the collection period.

To understand why natural honey is not candied for a long time, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the most common varieties of this amazing natural delicacy:

May honey Almost everyone knows about the benefits of bee products collected in early spring. This is due to the significant predominance of fructose and low calorie content. Therefore, May honey is well absorbed without irritating the digestive tract. Pollen for it is collected by insects before the mass flowering of the first flower stalks begins. The honey product is pumped out in the last month of spring or early summer. Natural May honey remains in a liquid state for a long time. Often counterfeits are sold under the guise of this useful product, into which sugar syrup is added to feed bees in the winter. Therefore, experienced beekeepers advise purchasing the May product in the fall after it has been infused and its natural shrinkage has occurred.
Acacia. A well-known white variety with a pleasant acacia aroma and unique taste. It contains 35% sweet glucose, 40% fructose and a small amount of moisture. Freshly pumped honey has a consistency similar to liquid saturated syrup and, after shrinking, remains liquid for a long time. After crystallization, the acacia honey product forms small light-colored crystals.
Lime. This is another variety of white honey that retains its original liquid structure for one to six months. The linden honey product is moderately viscous and, after candiing, takes on a paste-like state with small crystals, which is similar to lumps of semolina porridge. After long-term storage, honey may separate into solid and liquid fractions.
Buckwheat. Crystallization of honey collected by bees from fields of flowering buckwheat occurs very quickly. To preserve the product in its liquid state, it must be stored under suitable conditions. This type includes a lot of useful substances necessary to maintain immunity, relieve inflammation, and treat colds.

After getting acquainted with the most popular varieties, which remain in a liquid state for a long time, we can conclude that this effect most likely indicates the natural origin of the honey product and why last year’s honey of these varieties was not candied.

if the amount of water in the product exceeds 17%. Sometimes beekeepers specifically resort to this method to attract buyers. Honey with a large amount of water may not harden, but gradually transform into a paste-like mass;
a small amount of pollen in the composition;
premature collection negatively affects its condition. It does not yet have all the useful substances, it retains a liquid form for a long time and does not crystallize, and over time, due to the significant water content in it, it can ferment. This is why honey foams if it is collected early and stored incorrectly;
Constant stirring can delay the inevitable sugaring. If honey is stirred periodically, it can remain liquid for a long time;
storing the product at low temperatures freezes the crystallization process, but negatively affects the nutritional properties of the product;
adding various impurities. Due to the fact that the liquid product is in demand among buyers and attracts more attention, sellers often add various syrups and other additives to the product, and from time to time melt the candied honey.

Early May honey is often counterfeited in order to quickly sell it to lovers of the sweet liquid mass. The pouring product is more popular among people: it looks more attractive, it can replace many sweets, it is more convenient to add to tea or syrup, or spread on bread. It is associated with freshness and naturalness. But liquid does not mean fresh and high quality. Natural honey does not have to be pouring.